It was one of those rarest occasions when IYA Gurus, Vice Chancellors of universities, dignitaries, office bearers and yoga believers came together online to discuss the roadmap for IYA for the next financial year 2021-22. It was the 6th General Body Meeting (GBM) of Indian Yoga Association that saw participation from as many as 80 people from every corner of the country held on February 7, 2021 at 11am. The meeting went on for more than two hours.
The meeting commenced with the blessings from Kamlesh D Patel (Daaji), Member, Governing Council, IYA and Maa Dr. Hansaji Yogendra, Senior Vice President, IYA. Daaji in his address said, “Yoga means Unity not only with the Ultimate but also personal unity that must prevail. Our combined efforts are of utmost importance to progress. It is vital that as an association, IYA work towards retaining the sanctity and purity of Yoga.”
Speaking on the same lines Maa Dr. Hansaji Yogendra said, “Let yoga be the path. It is the ignorance that is causing all sufferings and pain. Yoga is not only asana, kriya, pranayama or even meditation. Yoga has a holistic approach. I would like to congratulate IYA for working so hard even during the pandemic. Yoga is the only saviour of humanity. We should be clear that we are here to spread this science and its message.”
With further blessings from Guruji Dr HR Nagendra, President, IYA the meeting commenced. Smt. Kamlesh Barwal, Secretary General, IYA spearheaded the meeting. Firstly, the pending items from minutes of the 4th GBM held on May 24, 2019 were put forward. This included IYA’s representation in National Board of Yoga and Naturopathy (the matter was closed because of no response), amendment to the R&R to include the State Registry and Regional Registry, and redefining Yoga (concept note received).
Thereafter, minutes of the 5th meeting of the General Body of IYA held on November 9, 2019 were confirmed and the discussion about the actions taken on the same was held. Everyone was informed that due to COVID-19, Integrated Cancer Project (ICAP) and offline activities in 2021 has been shelved and postponed respectively. Thereafter, the Annual Report along with audited statement of accounts for the year 2019-20 was approved, brief account statement for 2020-21 was presented and budget was proposed for 2021-22. It was noted by Dr. Jaideep Arya, Regional Coordinator, North Region and Joint Secretary, IYA and Smt. Kamlesh Barwal that in spite of the pandemic, the Association has done a good job by keep the finances under control. They congratulated Shri Ramkumar Rathi, Director, Standing Finance Committee and Dr SP Mishra, CEO, IYA Profession Cerfication Board (PrCB).
Putting forward his views about improving the finances of the Association, Shri Ram Kumar Rathi, said, “We need to work extensively with the State Chapters in the country by mentoring them time to time as they can be really helpful in increasing the membership for IYA.”
Next in the line were the activity reports of Standing Committees and State Chapter Committees. Shri Ravi Tumuluri, Regional Coordinator, South Region and Joint Secretary, IYA informed that in 2020 the association has roped in working directors for Research, Academics and Accreditation and SPPPRC committee.
Talking about the Standing Academics and Accreditation Committee (SAAC), he further informed that Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU), Lucknow has passed our Foundation Course and IYA is expecting to have 10,000 students by the end of March for the online classes.
Thereafter, he apprised the assembly about the 26 State Chapters of IYA that are actively working towards promotion of Yoga and two new Member Institutions that have been added under Annexure 2. Further, the Secretary General urged Member Institutions to approach or take help of IYA PrCB for the exams they conduct in their institutions.
Thenceforth, the discussion was held about Standing Research Committee. Everyone was informed that the committee in 2020 did a Corona Health Awareness Scale (CHAS) with Central Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy (CCRYN) and the Project on Human Flourishing is being designed and developed.
Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, Director, SPPPRC elaborated about the work done by the Standing Publicity, Publication and Public Relations Committee (SPPPRC). “I am so happy to be a part of the congregation of stalwarts present today. I think we have been able to do much more than we otherwise would have done. There had been so many activities and seminars held throughout 2020.
“The Online Gurukulam is such a unique initiative by IYA. I would request all the members to spread the word among there near and dear ones so that we could enhance the reach of the same.” It was notified that Yogavani- IYA Monthly has completed its one year.
Guruji Dr HR Nagendra concluded the meeting with the closing prayer. The 6th GBM also saw the presence of Dr. I.V Basavaraddi, Member, Governing Council, IYA, Shri Subodh Tiwari, Vice President, IYA, Swami Atmapriyananda, Director, SAAC, Dr R Nagarathna, Director, SRC, Shri Haresh Bhai Trivedi, Director, Standing Legal and Standards Committee and Dr Sunanda Rathi, Member, SFC.
Other who marked their presence were Dr Suresh Barnwal, Senior Faculty, DEV Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Dr. Sampadananda Mishra, Puducherry State Chapter, Dr Ishwar Bhardwaj, Shri Shubhendu Acharya, Prof Neeraj Gupta, Prof Nageshwar Rao, Former VC, IGNOU, Shri Sreedharan, Shri Elangovan R, Shri Kaustubh Desikachar, Shri D. R Kaarthikeyan, Acharya Mukesh, Prof K Subrahmanyam, Shri Rajeev Mishra, Dr Pushpanjali Sharma, Prof Dr NO Singh, Shri Rajendra Joshi, Shri Durgadas Savant, Acharya Birju Maharaj, Shri Manoj Kumar, Swami Umapuri, Swami Gyaneshwar, Shri Rishi Ranjan, Dr M Lakshmi, Dr, Krishna Murari, Shri Akash Singhvi, Shri Rajagopal Krishnan, Smt.Mousumi Borpuzary, Shri Amit Garg, Shri Bhawarlal Arya, Shri Ajit Kumar, Swami Satya Prakash and others.